White Christmas Cherry Bars in a Jar

• 
  White Christmas Bars in a Jar
  INGREDIENTS:
  1/4 C. white chocolate or vanilla milk chips
  1/2 C. chopped pecans, toasted* and cooled
  1/2 C. sweetened dried cherries or cranberries
  1/2 C. light brown sugar, packed**
  1 C. buttermilk biscuit baking mix
  1/2 C. brown sugar, packed**
  1 C. buttermilk biscuit baking mix
  
• In a wide mouth glass jar, gently layer and pack ingredients in the order
  listed, beginning with the white chocolate or vanilla chips.
• If there is any space left after adding the last ingredient, add more white chocolate or vanilla chips to fill the jar.
• Place lid on top. Cut an 8 inch circle of fabric to cover lid.
• Place fabric over
  lid; secure in place with ribbon or raffia.
• Decorate as desired.
  
  Make a gift card to attach as follows:
  
  WHITE CHRISTMAS CHERRY BARS
  Preheat oven to 350 ºF. Empty contents of jar into medium bowl. Stir in:
  1/2 C. (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted
  1 large egg
  1 tsp. vanilla extract
  Press into an 8 inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake for 20 to
  22 minutes, or until bars are light golden brown and center is almost set. Makes 16
  bars.
  * To toast pecans, place in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 4 to
  5 minutes, stirring every minute.
  ** After measuring the brown sugar, crumble it between your fingers for uniform
  texture. Be sure to pack the brown sugar firmly in the jar to prevent the baking mix
  from sifting down through it.

Toasted Pecan Snowballs

From Woman's Day November 13, 2007

Photo: Kate Sears
Nutrition Facts
Yield 46 snowballs
Amount Per Serving

Active Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
INGREDIENTS
1 cup pecans, toasted and cooled (see Note)
1 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 sticks (1 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut in small pieces
2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
PREPARATION
1. Heat oven to 325°F. You’ll need a baking sheet(s).
2. Pulse pecans with 3/4 cup of the sugar in food processor until finely ground (do not overprocess). Add butter, vanilla and salt; process, scraping bowl often, to blend. Add flour; pulse just until dough forms a ball.
3. With lightly floured hands, roll into 1-in. balls. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheet(s). Bake 20 minutes or until tops are dry and set and bottoms are light brown.
4. Cool cookies on sheet 10 minutes. Gently (they’re extremely fragile) roll warm cookies in remaining 1 cup confectioners’ sugar to coat. Cool, then roll in sugar again.
Storage Tip: Store airtight with wax paper between layers at cool room temperature up to 2 weeks.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

From The Art and Soul of Baking
Makes about 60 cookies
There’s a reason Realtors like to bake these cookies when showing a house to potential buyers. Few among us can resist the mouthwatering aroma of butter, brown sugar, and chocolate that reminds us of all things warm and wonderful.
There are many versions of this American classic—this is a favorite, bursting with chunks of both semisweet and milk chocolate, with an extra splash of vanilla added for a deep, round flavor.
Ingredients:
1 ½ sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, softened (65° to 68°F)
¾ cup (5 ¼ ounces) granulated sugar
¾ cup (6 ounces) firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 ¼ cups (11 ¼ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
6 ounces good-quality semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped into ¼-inch chunks,
or 1 cup (7 ounces) dark chocolate chips.
6 ounces good-quality milk chocolate, chopped into ¼-inch chunks, or 1 cup (7 ounces) milk chocolate chips.
½ cup (2 ¼ ounces) chopped nuts (walnuts, almonds, pecans, or hazelnuts), chopped, toasted, and completely cooled (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350°F and position an oven rack in the center.

• Line the baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Place the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar in the bowl of the stand mixer and beat on medium-low speed until smooth and blended, about 2 minutes.
• You can also use a hand mixer and a medium bowl, although you may need to beat the mixture a little longer to achieve the same results.
• Scrape down the bowl with a spatula.
• Add the eggs one at a time and beat just until blended after each addition.
• Add the vanilla and blend well.
• Scrape down the bowl.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
• Turn the mixer to the lowest speed and add the flour mixture all at once.
• Blend just until there are no more patches of flour.
• Scrape down the bowl.
• Add the semisweet and milk chocolate chunks and the nuts (if using), and blend on low just until combined.
• Remove the bowl from the mixer and stir gently a few times with the spatula to make sure there are no more patches of unincorporated flour or butter lurking near the bottom of the bowl.
• Using the small ice cream scoop or spoon, portion tablespoon-size mounds onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart.
• Bake the cookies one sheet at a time, rotating the sheet halfway through, for 10 to 14 minutes, until the cookies are golden brown at the edges and still a bit pale in the center.
• If you want crisp cookies instead of chewy ones, bake for a couple of extra minutes.
• Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and let them cool completely before serving.

Excellent Oatmeal Cookies

INGREDIENTS 1 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
In a large bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in oats and nuts until just blended. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Cookies should be at least 2 inches apart.
Bake for about 12 minutes in the preheated nt Oatmeal Cookies/Recipe from allrecipies.com

Thumbprint Cookies I

INGREDIENTS 1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
2/3 cup any flavor fruit jam
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions
preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets.
Separate egg, reserving egg white. Cream butter or margarine, sugar, and egg yolk.
Add vanilla, flour and salt, mixing well.
Shape dough into balls. Roll in egg white, then walnuts. Place on cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 5 minutes.
Remove cookies from oven. With thumb, dent each cookie. Put jelly or preserves in each thumbprint. Bake for another 8 minutes./Recipe from allrecipies.com